La Martiniere new secy to be announced on November 3

KOLKATA: The Church of North India (CNI) has zeroed in on the next secretary at La Martiniere schools. The church authorities have decided to keep the name under wraps till November 3, when the announcement will be made at the meeting of the board of governors. The current secretary, Supriyo Dhar, has stepped down from his post and his resignation will be formally accepted that day. The secretary’s is a full-time post and is considered to be crucial to the functioning of the two heritage institutes. Earlier, the position was held by educationists belonging to the Anglo-Indian community, such as Percy Jones, JVR Alfred (former director of the Geological Survey of India) and Neil O Brien. “We want an academic to be in the secretary’s seat and after considering a large number of people, we have finalised one name. He has been in the school circuit for a very long time and has a clean image. I am sure when the name is announced, we will see a lot of smiles...” said Bishop Probal Dutta, who heads the Kolkata diocese of the CNI. He confirmed that the next secretary did not belong to any of the CNI schools in the city. The board meeting on November 3 will be held with two permanent members and four acting board members. The rest of the 10 permanent positions are vacant at the moment. The two permanent positions are that of the Bishop and that of Swarup Bar, priest of St Andrew’s Church. The four acting members are, Abir Adhikari, priest at St Paul’s Cathedral, historian Shireen Masood, college faculty Ajanta Pal and exvice-principal of La Martiniere for Boys Stanford Francis.

“The tenure of the current board of La Martiniere will end in March and changes will be rung in…” Bishop Dutta said. Dhar, who was a secretary to the schools for the past 10 years, resigned on “personal grounds”. Recently, a new admissions panel was formed at the school in which the secretary was not included. This had reportedly irked Dhar. A rift has been apparent between the new order that has come in with the appointment of Bishop Dutta and the outgoing order under former Bishop Ashoke Dutta, who has filed a case against the CNI, seeking reinstatement.